Balkans

Montenegro will give each of its neighbours and former ex-Yugoslavs Serbia and Croatia a small submarine as a gift, said Montenegro’s army chief of staff, Dragan Samardzic. Slovenia already got one of the six small Tisa submarines, class Una, produced in the late 80’s for the Yugoslav Navy in Croatia’s …

Serbia would rather ask for more loans to make it through the financial crisis than sell its fixed telephony and electricity monopolies, Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said on Tuesday. “It’s better for the state to go into debt that to sell Telekom,” Tanjug agency quoted Djelic as saying, adding …

Serbia needs a new deal with the International Monetary Fund, but with that money going ensure the macro-economic stability of the country and not to protect the dinar rate, Serbia’s central bank governor Radovan Jelasic said on Tuesday, adding that the state needs the deal also as an excuse for …

One of Macedonia’s biggest infrastructure projects, the building of a ring road round the capital Skopje, is nearing completion after several delays, officials told local media on Monday. Last July the authorities opened to traffic the first stretch of the 26-kilometer long road, part of the long running efforts by …

Money sent home by Bulgarians living abroad boosted the Bulgarian economy with $1.9 billion in 2007, latest World Bank data showed, as quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio. After direct capital investments, remittances from migrant workers was the second most important source of external revenue for developing European economies, both …

BUCHAREST, Romania: Romania’s foreign minister says his country does not want citizens suspected of committing crimes in Italy to be repatriated. Cristian Diaconescu said Romania would accept the repatriation of Romanians who have been convicted of crimes, but not suspects. Anti-Romanian sentiment in Italy has escalated after recent attacks by …

Sofia. According to a report of the World Bank, Bulgaria is among 6 EU member states that might undergo a symbolic economic growth of 0-2% during 2009, along with Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, The Dnevnik Daily informs. “The prognoses for the region are very uncertain, negative …

A scandal linked with grandiose affairs in Bulgaria’s Customs Agency will shake the country next week, MP Yane Yanev, who will file evidential documents in the prosecution, told Darik Sunday. He claims to be in the possession of data and facts that will reveal a person within the Customs Agency …

Traditional Shrovetide festivities culminated after nearly two weeks of events taking place across the country with carnivals in numerous Slovenian towns. Slovenia’s biggest carnival took place in Ptuj, a town in north-eastern Slovenia with a rich cultural tradition that can be traced back to the Roman times when it was …

Slovenia will not keep the vignette tolling system for long, however, it will remain as long as a new, more sustainable and fair system of motorway tolling is found, Transport Minister Patrick Vlacic said. He added that the Slovenian Motorway Company DARS could be facing a deficit of between EUR …